WASHINGTON - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Friday he was not trying to talk down the dollar and his comments earlier this week were taken out of context, according to an interview with CNBC.

"I made the comment two days ago in a press gaggle in the morning. What I said was actually very even-handed and consistent with what I said before," Mnuchin told CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I was not trying to move the dollar."

The U.S. dollar index pared losses after Mnuchin tells CNBC he was not trying to talk the dollar down.